As you may know, Matt Schaub is on Twitter now at MSchaub8. In one of his first tweets, he writes:

I would love to have a gr8 year with much less 🙁 and goodness knows, I think I could stand to use some mind rightening. I know playoff football can be ugly but I found myself last weekend just grumpy thinking of what a Texans team with a non-injured Schaub foot would have done with this very imperfect grouping of remaining teams. Bygones.

Certainly, Schaub doesn’t mean it like how “get your mind right” means in the movie Cool Hand Luke. (Just a link because I can’t embed the fantastic video). In that context, the Paul Newman character basically gets the spirit physically beat out of him, and a right mind means capitulating to the man.

It’s possible that it is a reference to various hip hop songs I can’t link here because of their profane lyrics. I don’t think Schaub is referring to them, unless he wants the fanbase to embrace expensive, premium-label hedonism and calling women by unfortunate names. That would be decidedly non-Schaubian.

When I did the fitness testing at IMG, I learned that the trend for workouts is more focused on agility, balance, core work, functional fitness, less isolation moves and more total body moves. One of the good things in working with Todd Durkin was more of a familiarity with TRX Suspension Training. TRX was originally created by a group of Navy Seals who were looking for ways to stay fit when they didn’t have the availability of gyms. I’m not technically inclined, but the TRX is very easy to set up and on a per minute basis, probably is as good of a strength and flexibility workout that I’ve ever experienced. And the portability is handy too for those who travel.

But even beyond the fitness aspects of what Durkin was selling was the mental component. Getting your mind right. The difference between bad to good to great to elite in both football and in life is often what drive there is in the brain. Attitude. Motivation. Focus.

So why would the attitude of fans matter? Certainly this season in the stadium, you can feel the difference of what Reliant is like when fans show up early and stay engaged in the game, even when bad things happen as they do in most games. Positive energy can be contagious.

Probably the best advice I got at the IMG Academy of how to create success comes from self-talk. Do you ever say things to yourself that are more negative and biting than what you would ever say to a friend? Don’t do that. If you are kind to yourself, you can count on at least one person every day who is.

What Are You Doing in the Off-Season?

I’ve been involved with online communities for many years with both message boards and blogs. I like to be able to use them to encourage positive things. (link describes me as a former lawyer but I am not a former). Though I don’t really *know* a lot of the commenters, it is always a concern when folks post about their health problems, preventable and otherwise. Yes, some things can’t be prevented, but you can’t take a fatalistic view of that because that encourages preventable ailments. (As an aside, some regular commenters here disappeared after the Chron.com re-design. I’m worried some about you. Please check in even if you have nothing really to say. Kreno?)

Many of you are likely familiar with TED, the non profit group that tries to spread good ideas. They have conferences in a variety of places, and post a series of talks online. Sometimes the lectures can get a bit overwrought and pontificating, which is hard to avoid if you intend to spread do-goodery in a world of snark. Even so, many of the lectures are worthwhile. I particularly like this one:

Anything you can think of that you might want to try for 30 days? Sometimes simple things can make a big difference in your life. I encourage you to leave them in the comments. Sometimes saying to others what your goals are can help encourage you to do them.

I’ve heard from readers who like the very football oriented posts. I strongly suggest looking at the previous one and commenting, because the comments in that post are very good. But I also hear from readers who like the posts that get sort of random. Those tend to happen more in the off-season. Personally, I like making blog posts where each one is a happy surprise. Not sure that I can always do that, but it is good to have goals.